Appisto Viejita

[wirralbull]

picked up a pair of these yesterday. got the pair for 8 quid because they were the last two and never came out so where just wasting. thing is they dont seem very bouyant ie spend alot of time lieing on the floor. and theire quite skinny. is it likely that their general poor condition has made them unsteady. or something more serious. they have been in the shop a couple of weeks with no losses. anybody keep these fish. i have two tanks set up they could go into. one 20ltr and a 130 ltr the larger is stocked but the smaller only has a betta in which i can move. would they prefer the smaller tank alone or larger with dither fish( theywould be by far the largest fish in that tank).

 

[minnnt]

Are they wild caught and what is your water conditions? There could be some kind of acclimatisation issues. Also could be internal parasites. What do their bellies look like? Plenty of bloodworm, little and often will help.

 

[wirralbull]

pretty hollow looking. could'nt tell you if they're wild or not ph 7.2 am 0 nitrite 0. havnt tested nitrate. have you kept this species before?

 

[minnnt]

Never had viejita before. I would try feeding them and see if the improve, if not then it may be worth treating for internal parasites.

I kept my Cacs in 7.6, then managed to get it down to 7.2 and they became more active. Finally got them in 6.4 and they have spawned. The lower the ph, the happier they are. I believe Viejita are a more touchy species than many so may require the water to be more exact.

Cheers.

 

[crazyforcordoras]

Try feeding them with live and frozen foods.

 

[wirralbull]

do you use ph down what brand i alrdy have peat in ny filter and leaves. would using ro be beneficial

 

[minnnt]

RO water will no doubt be beneficial. A 50/50 mix with your tap water will certainly help them out a fair bit i would have thought. The way i got my ph down to 6.4 was to run a co2 system in the tank. A simple home made sugar and yeast setup (literally a couple of quid to set up!) brings it down nicely. I have never been one for messing with ph, i like to pick fish that do well in a wider range of water parameters rather than needing exact ones such as German Blue Rams etc, but this has really proved to me that 6.4 is a better ph to keep them at rather than 7.6

 

[wirralbull]

i already have one made up in a cupboard somewhere. will get it back on the go. thanx

 

[minnnt]

You're welcome mate. Hope it works for you as well as it did for me.

 

[Proxo]

You're welcome mate. Hope it works for you as well as it did for me.

LOL

 

[minnnt]